1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a system for use in automotive vehicles for warning following vehicles as to conditions of deceleration or impending deceleration, thereby providing operators of following vehicles with sufficient advance information to better avoid collision with the forward vehicle in a deceleration situation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As part of the effort to reduce automobile accidents, there has been an increasing emphasis on enhancing the visibility of brake lighting. Brake lights have become larger and more numerous, including the advent of the high mount brake light system which is mounted on the shelf under the rear window or on the trunk. However, the current state of automobile brake lighting has typically provided for only a single intensity, that is, the brake lights are either on or off. In many instances, safety would be enhanced if a driver approaching from the rear could determine at what rate the forward automobile is braking or has braked.
Despite the advent of the high mount brake light system, rear-end collisions are still occurring at an alarming rate. Rear-end automobile collisions account for approximately two-thirds of the auto accidents occurring worldwide. The majority of all chain accidents occur during rush-hour traffic jams. Under those conditions, drivers often do not have enough time to react to one anothers movements. As it appears to be impossible to force drivers to maintain safe distances between cars, other solutions must be found.
Various devices and systems have been disclosed which are directed toward the prevention of rear-end collisions and their severity by advancing the reaction-braking response, particularly in emergency braking situations. The following patents disclose various types of such early warning systems.
Patent No.Inventor3,395,388Hendrickson3,497,871Damico3,596,020Warren3,601,796Mortimer3,881,078Kazanecki3,911,394Shames3,912,892Morehouse3,921,750Shames4,021,775Leu4,173,012Burger4,686,503Miller4,901,055Rosenberg4,983,953Page5,148,147Kobres
Mortimer discloses an accelerator release signal light delay actuator which delays actuation of the brake light upon release of the driver's foot from the accelerator pedal for 5 or 6 seconds following release of the accelerator. After the delay period is past, if the brake has not yet been applied, the brake lights are turned on at an intensity less than the intensity available when the brakes are actually actuated. Thus, the possibility of false indication is decreased since the person behind the front car recognizes the decreased intensity of the light indicating that the brake has not itself been actuated.
Morehouse discloses an automobile deceleration warning system in which an auxiliary pedal is positioned above the main accelerator pedal. A normally opened switch is positioned between the two pedals. Upon release of the auxiliary pedal, the switch closes, thereby lighting the brake light. According to the patent, a resistor may be included which reduces the current flow to the brake lights, thus lighting the brake lights at a lower intensity when the lights are actuated in response to the lifting of the accelerator pedal as compared with the intensity of the brake lights when the brakes are actually applied.
The Shames patents disclose a vehicle brake light warning system in which the brake lights are activated for a given period of time upon release of the accelerator pedal. This time period is sufficient for the driver to lift his foot from the accelerator to the brake pedal. If the brakes are not applied within that time period, the brake lights are turned off.
Burger, Leu, Kazanecki, Warren and Miller all disclose alternate systems for providing early warning of brake activation by turning on the brake light or alternative lights upon release of the accelerator pedal.
However, all of the above-noted patents suffer from a significant disadvantage in that no differentiation is made between panic stop behavior and non-panic stop behavior. Each of these devices result in a high rate of “false alarms” which can lead to a decrease in the overall warning value of the stop lamp signal itself, due to a “cry wolf” phenomenon. This leads to a significant reduction in the effectiveness of these systems.
European Pat. No. 0 219 858 discloses a device which remains ineffective in non-emergency cases. The advanced braking light device (ABLD) is an electronic device installed on a vehicle accelerator pedal. When a leading vehicle driver attempts a panic-braking operation, the accelerator pedal is released by a sudden movement when the driver's leg is shifted to apply the brake pedal as quickly as possible.
The sudden release is sensed by the ABLD and immediately after the accelerator pedal is released, the stop lights are activated. This advanced activation of the stop lights, by a fraction of 0.2–0.3 seconds, which is approximately the time necessary for the driver to move his leg from the accelerator to the brake, enables the following vehicle driver to start his reaction to the braking at an earlier stage, thus improving his chances of preventing a collision or reducing the severity thereof. The brake lights remain lit for only 1 second if the brake pedal is not actuated.
Although the advanced warning systems of the aforesaid patents are useful, they generally address only specific factors relative to driver-induced deceleration and intended deceleration aspects of vehicles. Also, there is no consideration of the plight of the second following vehicle behind the decelerating vehicle, whose vision of the tail lights of the decelerating vehicle is blocked by an intervening large first following vehicle. An additional margin of response time is usually provided to the operator of the vehicle when the actions of vehicles in front of the immediately preceding vehicle are observable. However, when the immediately preceding vehicle is of large size, such as a van, truck or sport utility vehicle (SUV), all vision of vehicles in front of such large vehicle is obscured, whereby any warning light system of the decelerating vehicle would not be perceived by the operator of said second following vehicle.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle warning light system that indicates to following vehicles the intended and current deceleration status of the vehicle.
It is another object of this invention to provide a warning light system as in the foregoing object which transmits warning status to the immediately following vehicle, which in turn provides said warning status to a second following vehicle.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a warning system of the aforesaid nature which can be retrofitted to existing vehicles.
These objects and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description.